Sustainable Fashion 2020

When I first heard about the event on sustainability, I was quite happy. I felt it's great that so many people are thinking about the environment we live in. I felt we all together will be able to make a difference. I have been aware of recycling and using organic products. But I wasn’t completely into it. However, when I got involved in the making of this great event “Sustainable Fashion 2020″ organised by our institute “Institute of Apparel Management '', Gurgaon, it had a different impact on me and everyone around me. I enjoyed every bit of this show. I felt so comfortable on the stage and with the Microphone as if the place was just for me! With that came, being completely in sync with every conversation/ discussion took place in the panel discussions. There were industry experts and delegates who joined in the discussion from all over the world to be part of this event.

I always thought I was an individual who is always concerned about the environment by not using poly bags, by buying organic food items and recycling as much as I can. But that was not enough, trust me.

I realised I am not doing anything to retain our heritage Indian traditional craft which is dying. I am not doing anything about the air pollution created in dyeing and printing or manufacturing of each garment? Who is thinking about the carbon footprints being produced due to every single garment? I am involved in planting a lot of trees around me. Delhi NCR has been declared as the most polluted city in the world. How much all of us are really doing something about it.

After listening to the discussion I was presented with the fact that all of us do not need all the garments and shoes we have in our wardrobe. Are we wearing everything we have in our wardrobe? Women only wear 20% of the clothes in their wardrobe, the rest 80% just stays there. What is it?  Is it our need or is it our greed to buy more? This was a great point brought out by Dr Darlie Koshy and Mr Somesh Singh during their talks. This got me thinking of impulse buying, or shopping during a low point in our lives.

I was deeply touched and moved by the words of Mrs Maneka Sanjay Gandhi when she said “why make more waste out of waste”, “why killl thousands of animals for leather, fur, silk?” Why not produce garments from the plants, there is so much nature has given us. I went home and saw the videos of the way animals are being killed and brutally treated to get the fur out of them. Each Year, approximately 50 million animals raised on fur farms around the world, which account for the majority of the world’s fur production, will be killed for their pelts. This number does not include rabbits as accurate figures on the number of rabbits slaughtered annually are hard to come by, but it is estimated that yearly more than a billion rabbits are killed for their pelts.

Both my sons fall sick every month due to the severe allergy, which is caused due to the Parthenium Hysterophorus or better known as the Congress grass. This is the deadliest weed that we have in India thanks to the government’s decision to import an innocuous variety of wheat, PL-480 from the US in the 1950s and this weed came with it – in fact, the deadly weed is called “Congress” grass because it was imported into the country by the then Congress government in centre. Parthenium is known to be a deadly weed for both humans and animals alike apart from being dangerous for the flora of the region including for the crops. One plant of Parthenium can produce around 25-30,000 seeds that can propagate rapidly with wind and if it comes in contact with humans, it can cause severe skin and respiratory allergies such as eczema and asthma. There were some decisions made by some politicians in past of getting this congress grass to India and generations and generations are impacted due to it. The polluted air in the city is damaging their lungs, the pesticides in the food is harming them and impacting their growth.

My heart bleeds when I see the underprivileged in the village called Tigra, near Nirvana country, who don’t have clean water to drink, clean houses to stay in, clean environment to live in. Life is not where we urban India lives. In great Air conditioned condos, which produces harmful gases for all the human beings and animals around. We throw away all the waste from the houses in 1 dustbin and leave it for the less privileged to sort it out.

This can go on, the question is who is responsible for it? I feel I am, we all are responsible for the environment we live in. You and I can make a difference to this world. There is a lot that you and I can do to save this Earth. I would request each one of to ask these questions when you go out shopping next-

“Do I REALLY NEED IT”?.

Can I plant more trees around my area?

Can I do without using Leather, cashmere, fur?

If we all take these baby steps I am sure we can give a better future to our future generations.

Sustainable is the next Big thing. Get stylish, get sustainable. Let's all start working on saving our Earth with full integrity.